Angelique Kerber of Germany will line up at the Sydney International.WALLACE WOON

Sport

Strong field to contest Sydney International

1st Dec 2016 12:53 PM

TENNIS: The Sydney International won't be short of female stars when it is contested next month.

In fact it will boast the strongest women's draw for a 32-player WTA tournament in the past 12 months.

Six of the world's top 10-ranked players will compete, headlined by German world No.1 and reigning Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber, who will make her fifth appearance in Sydney.

The tournament begins on January 8.

Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, ranked ninth in the world, will return to defend her title on Ken Rosewall Arena, with No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and Slovakian No.5 Dominika Cibulkova also to challenge.

Australian stars Daria Gavrilova and Sam Stosur, who are both ranked in the top 25, will also take to the court on home soil.

Serbian firebrand Viktor Troicki will return to defend his men's title, with Austrian world No.8 Dominic Thiem the highest-ranked male in the field.

There are no Aussies in the men's draw, with 2013 champion Bernard Tomic missing the event in favour of the Kooyong Classic.